_NO CONDEMNATION_ ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.’ Romans 8:1 No condemnation! What a strange, sweeping statement! And we naturally ask, to whom can it apply? To all Christians, or only to some? The answer is, it applies to all—yes, _ all_. If any one wil... [ Continue Reading ]
_ON PLEASING GOD_ ‘They that are in the flesh cannot please God.’ Romans 8:8 In the second collect for Evening Prayer we ask that ‘our hearts may be set to obey’ God’s commandments. It is a thoroughly scriptural petition. To please God we must obey Him. I. THIS OBEDIENCE MUST BE ROOTED IN REVER... [ Continue Reading ]
_HEART-SEARCHING WORDS_ ‘If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.’ Romans 8:9 What heart-searching words! Whatever else man may have, if the Spirit be absent Christ pronounces against Him. Consider— I. THE NECESSITY OF THE INDWELLING OF THE SPIRIT.—He is needed (_a_) to secur... [ Continue Reading ]
_EASTER THOUGHTS_ ‘If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.’ Romans 8:11 It is very hard to say on Easter Day whether the surprise of it, the triumph of it... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE CHRISTIAN’S INDEBTEDNESS_ ‘Therefore, brethren, we are debtors.’ Romans 8:12 The love of Christ is the true philosopher’s stone. It turns everything to gold. To be a slave in St. Paul’s day meant utter bondage and drudgery, and yet the Apostle delighted to call himself the slave of Christ. T... [ Continue Reading ]
_FAITH IN THE HOLY GHOST_ ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God.’ Romans 8:14 The miracles of nature prepare for the miracles of grace. The miracle of the human spirit prepares for the miracle (or is the beginning of the miracle) of the Spirit of God in man. No wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE FAMILY OF GOD_ ‘For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.’ Romans 8:15 We are learning much at the present time about unity, and yet we must remember that the unity which Christ prayed for was unit... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE WITNESS WITHIN_ ‘The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.’ Romans 8:16 Let us look at the facts to which the spirit of a child of God bears witness proving his adoption. I. THE FIRST GREAT FACT WHICH THE SPIRIT OF EVERY CONVERTED MAN WILL BEAR WIT... [ Continue Reading ]
_HEIRS OF GOD_ ‘Heirs of God.’ Romans 8:17 Plainly an heir is one who has some future property coming to him—a property which he will come to, and which no one can take from him. It is his for certain. But it is in the future, and as yet he is not in the enjoyment of it. There are many ways in wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_SUFFERING THE PRELUDE TO GLORY_ ‘If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.’ Romans 8:17 These words had a special meaning and application for the days of the Apostles. But they have a meaning for ourselves too. We have need of help as much as the people of the Ear... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING_ ‘The sufferings of this present time.’ Romans 8:18 The mention of the necessity of suffering, going along with the love and the affliction that we have in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ, in order that we may be partakers of His glory, sets the Apostle Paul very b... [ Continue Reading ]
_SUFFERINGS AND GLORY_ ‘I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.’ Romans 8:18 ‘I reckon,’ spoken by one who knew what sufferings meant. I. THE SUFFERINGS OF THIS LIFE. (_a_) _ The sufferings of the early Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE WAITING CHURCH_ ‘The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.’ Romans 8:19 What is it that this passage teaches? I. IT TEACHES THAT THE CREATURE, that is to say all creation, lies under a blight, that a cloud has crept between the light of God a... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE VANITY OF CREATION_ ‘For the creature was made subject to vanity.’ Romans 8:20 It is hardly necessary to say that the creature is creation, as indeed the Revised Version puts it—this world in which man lives out his little life; and when St. Paul says the creation was made subject to vanity,... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE HOPE OF CREATION_ ‘For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.’ Romans 8:20 In this w... [ Continue Reading ]
_CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE_ ‘For we know.’ Romans 8:22 St. Paul was no mean man. If ever a strong man lived, that man was St. Paul. And, more than that, he was a man who had sacrificed a great deal for what he had believed. Brought up at the feet of Gamaliel; Pharisee of the Pharisees; he lost all for... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE SACRING OF PAIN_ ‘The whole creation … travaileth in pain.’ Romans 8:22 It is held that pain came in with sin; and will go out with sin. This, however, is to be taken with certain reservations. I. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SIN AND SUFFERING IS A GENERAL ONE.—We are deterred by the language... [ Continue Reading ]
_PATIENT WAITING_ ‘If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.’ Romans 8:25 We are living in a transition time, by which we mean that ours is an age of change. This is true of mankind everywhere, because change is a law of life. But change is no proof of advance or progr... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE HOLY SPIRIT OF HELP_ ‘And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity.’ Romans 8:26 (R.V.) Our Lord taught His disciples to pray, and promised another Advocate. So the Holy Ghost, as our Lord did, teaches us to pray, and is Himself, in a sense, our Advocate. But the mode of assistan... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘MORE THAN CONQUERORS’_ ‘We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.’ Romans 8:37 Here is a glorious vision indeed. St. Paul is so confident that he speaks of the future as if it were present (cf. Romans 8:30). His lips are touched with the power and the sweetness of the eternal song.... [ Continue Reading ]
_NO SEPARATION_ ‘For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Romans 8:38... [ Continue Reading ]